Since the last time of writing, Gibrillah’s single ‘High Life Livin’ has been posted up across Spotify playlists and recently crashed through the 100K barrier.

Far from resting on his laurels, the conscious and versatile rapper has teamed up with Raj Mahal and Phil Fresh on his smooth new single ‘Beamer’. The laid back, three-verse track sees Gibrillah and Raj Mahal effortlessly ride over Domba production with Phil Fresh laying down the hook. Windows down and volume all the way up, ‘Beamer’ is aux ready. To celebrate the release, we caught up with Gibrillah to chat Bondi, poetry and the Sydney Kings. Check out our full conversation below: 

Congrats on the release, you’ve got a brand new track ‘Beamer’ featuring Phil Fresh and Raj Mahal out now. Give us the run down. 

Picture that track that you’re driving to at sunset. It’s one of those summer jams that you can just chill to. It’s got me, Phil [Fresh] on the hook, and Raj [Mahal] does a verse. We all bring our own energy to it but it’s just about wanting to get your dream girl basically.

Where do you picture that sunset drive? 

Everywhere. From Baulkham Hills to Bondi, to the streets of New York, you know what I’m saying? I feel like every release we’re just taking a step up, taking things further and every track means something different. But yeah, everywhere. The sky is the limit.

I know that they’re the homies, but how did this collaboration come about? Why did you come together on this song?

So it was literally just spur of the moment. We have another boy Relly, who had a track right, and I actually got asked to feature on that but the beat that was made, I couldn’t really write to. So I told Domba to switch it up a little bit and that’s when he made the ‘Beamer’ beat. Raj was in the back when I wrote my verse to it and then he came in and he started bobbing his head to it, like, “yeah man, let me write something to it”. So then he wrote something to it, too. The next day Phil Fresh was there and I came back to the studio and he had already recorded the chorus. It really pieced itself together and we just ran with it.

Is that pretty much standard procedure around here? How do you normally write?

I’ve usually got two ways of writing. If I’m in the studio, Domba or somebody plays me tracks and I can write like that. Or my best way personally is to hear a beat and just hear it over a course of time so that I can structure it and really think about what I want to say. Because sometimes you say stuff in the spur of the moment and then you don’t really mean that. So I really like to just think about things properly. I came from poetry so that’s the way I structure it. I still follow that method and I feel like that helps me.

There seems to be a pretty natural crossover from poetry to rap and vice-versa. When did you realise you wanted to put everything into making music?

Literally, like the year that I finished school. I was always writing in high school and dabbling with rap but after high school I started taking this seriously. I was always shy so I started performing for people and then they started telling me like, “yeah, keep doing it”, and I just kept going with it. More strangers kept liking it and so I just made that transition. I haven’t written a poem since. Unless you consider some of my raps are poetry.

That definitely shines through on some of your more introspective verses but you’re also showing now that you can do higher energy tracks. Are you more naturally drawn to slowing it down or speeding things up?

I mean both come quite naturally. People always ask: “What kind of rapper are you?” And I always tell them I’m a variety rapper. I can do everything. I don’t just do one sound or thing, you know what I mean? The next release is going to be different, too. It’s about showing different sides to me. It’s like, never say no and never be scared to take risks, and always be yourself.

There’s a lot of variety around here [Bodega Collective] as well, you guys are always mixing it up. How did you first link up with Bodega Collective?

So we’ve got another collective called Savour the Rations which is like Raj, Dom, Kwame, all the boys, and then they all started recording here. I just linked up with all of them, started coming through and met them all and we just clicked. I knew some of these boys, because we’re all local, but I didn’t know they were doing this until we came in.

Is there any new Savour the Rations music on the horizon?

I feel like right now we’re all more so focusing on ourselves. All of us feel like we’re starting to pop off right now and gaining traction. When we’ve all found ourselves and we come back together it’s going to be better than ever. We do plan on coming back, but it’s all about timing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEjCAU2dmU

What are you likely to be doing when you’re not in the studio? 

Playing basketball. Anyone that wants to vs me 1 on 1, I’ll challenge anyone. I’m not scared. I will go any rapper, anyone. But nah if I’m not playing ball I’m just with my boys chilling. I don’t really party and stuff. I’m the quiet one, I just like to kick back.

Cole played the half-time show at this year’s NBA All-Star Game, and I think it was Pharrell or N.E.R.D last year. That’s something the NBL aren’t really up on yet but if Sydney Kings pick up the phone and they want you for half-time at the first game of the season, what are you saying?

Yeah I’ll do it. Only if I can bring the gang with me. Only if I can bring all of Western Sydney to the Kings game. We’ve got a big family out here.

Let’s talk about the local scene. There’s a lot of movement and a lot happening at the moment. Where do you feel hip hop is at in Australia right now?

I feel like Australian hip hop is dope right now because it’s getting noticed. This is the right time if you’re an artist to push yourself. Everyone’s finding themselves, and personally where I’m from, Western Sydney, the culture out here is crazy. Everyone that’s pushing out here has something different. Everyone’s on their thing. I feel like every week we’re seeing another hit, another hit and another hit. It’s good that more focus is coming out this way because we’ve been slept on for too long. For artists out here to come up is a beautiful thing. That the rest of the world can see that is a beautiful thing. Look at ONEFOUR, getting recognition in the UK, making waves. They’re probably bigger over there than they are here.

Do you feel like the shackles are off?

Yeah and there’s so much variety out here now because of that. It’s so refreshing to see. Honestly that’s it; it’s so refreshing. You’ve seen it, for ages we’ve been boxed in by what Australian hip hop is or should sound like, and we know there’s so much more out there. It’s a breath of fresh air to see that other people are starting to see us as more. Australia is going to be the next big thing. It was America, then the UK. Our scene’s up next. We’re the next big thing.

Finally, are these singles you’ve been putting out leading into something? What’s on the cards for the rest of 2019?

Yeah I’m trying to get a project happening. Right now though, I’m just focusing on getting these singles out there and really get my name up. Hopefully by the end of this year or start of next year we can release a project. I’ve got a bunch of tracks as well so I just want to release everything. I’ve got video clips coming soon too! A lot of videos coming out so people can see me. So yeah, get these tracks out, get these videos out, really just push and show face.

Gibrillah, Raj Mahal and Phil Fresh are all in line to play an intimate show at the Gladdy next Saturday June 15. Follow the link for event details.